Organisational and Individual Unlearning in Identification and Evaluation of Technologies

Abstract

The ability of an organisation to recognise and evaluate technologically relevant information can be impeded by outdated processes, structures and knowledge. Organisations need therefore a capacity for “intended memory loss”, which has been labelled as unlearning. Although a number of scholars have examined unlearning, research is still only beginning to understand unlearning especially in the area of technology identification and evaluation. The goal of this study is therefore to examine unlearning on an organisational and individual level in this context. Unlearning on an organisational level comprises team composition strategies and directives as well as the implementation of unlearning mechanisms. On an individual level, unlearning highlights cognitive prototypes which exert an influence on the perception of technologies and their evaluation. A qualitative approach has been chosen to examine those aspects, in which technological gatekeepers serve as sample subjects. Technological gatekeepers take a crucial role in the technology identification and evaluation as decision makers and due to their influence on organisational structures and processes. The results of this study suggest that unlearning plays currently only a minor role on an organisational and individual level, which is mainly caused by existing rigidities and in the missing understanding of the necessity to unlearn.

Appropriating Information Technology Artefacts through Trial and Error: The Case of the Tablet

“…Trial and error is primarily based on exploitation; as our findings show, tablet users seek to implement tentative solutions based on what they know and their experiences. In contrast, existing literature suggests that when improvising users tend to be more exploratory (Scheiner et al 2016). Further, as improvisation is generally timesensitive (Pavlou and El Sawy 2010), users may be able to pursue a limited number of iterations.…”

“…Combining, recombing and repurposing IT denotes an attempt to try out different things in order to solve problems. In doing so, users may cast a wide net that goes well beyond what they know, which allows them to innovate and identify novel solutions (Scheiner et al 2016 ). While trying to find new ways of using IT, users essentially try to innovate (Tams et al 2018 ), and in doing so they make IT their own (Ahuja and Thatcher 2005 ).…”

On the shoulders of giants: uncovering key themes of organizational unlearning research in mainstream management journals

“…The labels beside the cluster are only indicative and not software-generated with unlearning at the organizational level. However, some studies analyze unlearning at the individual level because individual unlearning enables OU (Becker 2008(Becker , 2010Scheiner et al 2016). Individual unlearning is defined as a process by which individuals deliberately discard knowledge, values, and behaviors to acquire new ones (Matsuo 2018).…”

“…Indeed, Zhao et al (2013) affirm that "the process of organisational unlearning is the continuous evolution of individual unlearning-group unlearning-organisational unlearning" (p. 905). Mainly, the studies in this cluster have employed an exploratory research design by using qualitative methods like case studies (Becker 2008;Pratt and Barnett 1997) and semi-structured interviews (Conway and Monks 2011;Scheiner et al 2016), and quantitative techniques like exploratory factor analysis (Becker 2010).…”

Application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in Estimating the Contributing Factors to Satisfaction of TASKA Services in East Coast Malaysia

“…The focuses on the factors that influence service quality satisfaction, including management system, fees, cost allocation, kids grow and activities. Outcome factors, at the organisational and individual level, are also explored (Scheiner et al, 2016).…”